


Figure it Out

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [46]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Clint Barton, BAMF Phil Coulson, BAMF Tony Stark, Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt Tony, Hurt Tony Stark, Insecure Tony, Insecure Tony Stark, M/M, Missions, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rescue Missions, Sleepy Cuddles, Tony Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, waterfalls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-08 23:29:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6879871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one did stubborn quite like Tony Stark and for once, it was a good thing.</p><p>OR</p><p>The one where a mission goes to hell in a hand basket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waterfall

Nobody did stubborn quite like Tony Stark and for once, that was a good thing. The mission had been a disaster from the start, resulting in everyone getting separated in a scattered attempt at escaping. They were outnumbered and overwhelmed and when the metaphorical dust settled twenty-seven hours later, it was a miracle and good engineering that their coms were willing to come back online. Agent Coulson typed in the override code for everyone to report in.

Steve and Natasha had made it back to base. Natasha had a broken pinky but was otherwise unharmed. Thor had managed to flee the country and was making his way to Brazil to be picked up. Bruce had stayed in the jet the entire time, so he was flying to get Thor. Clint and Tony were their missing comrades and Coulson was already hiking in their general direction when he forced the coms back to life.

“Hawkeye, Iron Man, report,” ordered Coulson instantly.

“Fine here,” said Clint. “I’m close to you, I can hear you but I can’t see you yet.”

“Iron Man?” repeated Coulson, continuing to walk, knowing that Clint would join him when he located the agent.

“Had to ditch the suit,” said Tony, his voice a bit strangled. “My poor baby. JARVIS blew it to bits so no one can use the technology.”

Clint jumped out of a tree and landed on the ground next to Coulson. The agent scanned his boyfriend’s body, searching for any sign on injury but other than a few bruises and scrapes, he was fine. Together they continued walking, hoping to find Tony soon so they could get home and showered.

“Wait, if you ditched the suit, then what are you wearing?” asked Clint. “Please tell me you were sprinting through the rainforest in your skin tight flightsuit. That would be awesome.”

“No, Hawkass, I’m in my sweat pants and t-shirt – which is probably ruined now – so that sucks,” said Tony.

“But are you injured?” asked Coulson.

“I mean, what is injured?” said Tony, his expressive voice giving away his trouble. 

“Tony,” said Clint warningly.

“I’m hanging onto the side of a cliff, so no serious injuries,” said Tony quickly. 

“You’re what?” yelled Clint. “Lead with that next time!”

“I need a location,” said Coulson, both Clint and him picking up the pace in light of Tony’s situation.

“Me too,” said Tony. “By a waterfall. I’m about twelve feet down, the walls are too slick to climb.”

“How long have you been there?” asked Coulson while he paused for Clint to scurry up a tree to find the river that joined the waterfall.

“Few hours I guess,” said Tony. “It’s sorta hard to tell time. But longer than I originally planned – you know, if I had planned to be here. Which I didn’t, I had originally planned to be home by now and in bed, preferably with a handsome spy and agent keeping me warm.”

“About a mile south,” said Clint, starting to jump back down the tree. “I see the waterfall.”

“Tony, we’re on our way,” said Coulson.

“Oh good,” drawled Tony. “Take your time. No hurry here. I’m just, you know, hanging out. Great view and all.”

Clint and Coulson rushed through the forest, jumping over vines and logs. It was a shame they were in a rush because the rainforest was beautiful. Eleven minutes later, they found the edge of the waterfall. Coulson and Clint approached the edge and looked down. There, almost thirteen feet down, clinging to the side of the cliff by fingertips and feet balanced on the tip of a jagged rock. 

“Tony,” called Clint.

“Not so loud,” groaned Tony. “You’re still on the coms.”

Clint looked bashful while Coulson looked around for a way down. There wasn’t one but there was one of Clint’s repelling arrows in his quiver.

“Clint, can you repel down and get Tony?” asked Coulson.

“Sure,” said Clint.

“That’s why Agent is my favorite,” said Tony. “So smart and thinking of the obvious solution right away. Clint would have said something like, ‘let me grab a vine’ and then he would have tried to Tarzan his way down and just no.”

By that time Clint had secured his anchor and was leaning over the side of the cliff, stepping down quickly until he was even with his other boyfriend. Even with Tony, Clint could see the Tony was physically exhausted, his hands torn and bleeding. 

“Hey you,” said Clint softly, leaning forward and kissing Tony gently on the lips.

“I love you,” whispered Tony. “But I really can’t hold on much longer.”

“Got it,” said Clint. “Can you hold on to me and we’ll climb back up together?”

Tony shook his head and reached out one hand. Clint scooted closer and pulled Tony’s arms around his neck. Tony’s entire body vibrated with fatigue but he clung to Clint as best he could and used the last of his depleted reserves to help stumble his way back up the slick cliff face. At the top, Coulson was there to help drag his boyfriends over the edge to safety. 

Tony lay on the ground, panting, staring up at the sky while Coulson helped Clint detach the wire from his belt.

“Tony, sweetheart, are you okay?” said Coulson.

“Yeah, just give me a minute,” said Tony.

Coulson slipped off his dress shirt – his jacket having been discarded long ago – and helped Tony sit up and put it on. As he slipped the billionaires hands through the sleeves that were too long, Phil noticed the way those hands were bleeding and purple and swollen.

“Oh baby,” sighed Coulson, gently bringing those hands up to inspect better. 

“If it makes you feel better, they don’t hurt,” said Tony. “They’re all numb and shit, unlike my feet, which are not at all fun. It’s a good thing the bottom of the feet don’t bruise, otherwise my feet would look very similar.”

“Steve should be bringing the jet around in an hour,” reported Clint. “They’re trying to get a lock on our location right now but are still having trouble with all the trees. The waterfall is helping as a landmark, though.”

“Let’s get a little more protected, then,” suggested Coulson. “I saw an alcove about a hundred meters back that should provide cover.”

With a groan, Tony allowed Phil and Clint to pull him to his feet. The genius hissed as he put pressure on his bare feet and wished – not for the first time – that he had taken the time to put on shoes before jumping in the suit in the quick call to assemble. Phil and Clint both pulled Tony’s arms over their shoulders and wrapped their arms around his waist, taking most of the billionaires weight between the two of them. It helped but it was still slow and painful going to reach the alcove Phil had mentioned.

It wasn’t much, just a naturally forming dent in the rocks, but after Clint gathered mostly dry leaves and covered the ground with them before building a short wall of plants to cover them from outside view, it was almost homey. Honestly, Tony would have taken anything that would allow him to no longer be standing. After standing on the jagged rocks for almost a full day, his feet were killing him.

Phil took a seat next to Tony on the ground while Clint took up a protective stance in front of them, watching for danger as well as the approach of their friends. Tony curled up next to Phil, starting to shiver with cold from being exposed to the constant mist of the waterfall. Phil took Tony’s hands in his own again and inspected them. They weren’t pretty and the engineer was going to have a difficult time being limited while they healed but Phil was just glad that they found Tony before the billionaire had become too tired and let go.

“When we get home,” said Phil softly, still holding Tony’s hands. “I think that the three of us should take a nice bath and then get into bed and sleep for a week.”

“Can we eat something first?” asked Clint, his eyes never straying from their surroundings. “Because I don’t know about you but being on the run is not conducive to eating food.”

“Bruce will have to fix my hands first,” said Tony, looking at his hands, an edge of panic in his voice that showed how truly distressed the billionaire was; what was an engineer without his hands?

“He can do that on the ride home. It’s a long flight from South America to New York.”

Tony nodded and burrowed closer to Phil when another shiver overtook him. 

“I just want to go home now,” whispered Tony miserably.

Phil kissed the top of Tony’s head, unable to say anything to make it better.


	2. Held

When Steve finally arrived with the jet and Phil and Clint got Tony loaded safely inside, they were all ready to just be home. Steve had taken the time to pick up Bruce, who went to work right away on Tony.

Nothing was broken but severely bruised, cut, and swollen from strain. Tony was annoyed at the thick bandages that made it impossible to grip anything and looked more like he was wearing fluffy mittens. His feet were in the same shape but Bruce made Phil and Clint promise to keep Tony off his feet for at least two weeks. Tony was too exhausted to protest but they all knew that would change as soon as the genius got his sleep.

“You have to eat something before you sleep, sweetheart,” said Clint.

“No,” whined Tony, turning into Phil. “Tired.”

“Leave him,” said Phil softly, resting his chin on the top of Tony’s head. “We’ll make him eat when we land. Let him sleep for right now.”

“Softie,” said Clint with a smile.

Phil nodded but didn’t force Tony to face the rest of the plane, keeping his breathing steady to lull his genius into a sleep. They stayed like that for the rest of the ride, Tony eventually falling into a deep sleep. When they landed at the Tower, Clint eased Tony out of Phil’s lap, keeping the blanket around the billionaire, and carried him to the penthouse. He settled Tony on the bed; when he pulled away, Tony woke up.

“Where are you going?” yawned Tony, blinking sleepily.

“I’m just going to grab a shower,” said Clint. 

“I wanna shower,” said Tony, not quite awake.

“No shower for you,” said Phil, walking in with a tray of food. “You are going to eat, sleep, and then, after you wake up properly, you may take a bath.”

Tony eyed Phil skeptically, his mind waking up more at the mention of a bath; he hated baths and his lovers knew that.

“What if I eat then shower and then sleep?” suggested Tony, squirming to sit without putting pressure on his injured hands. “I need to shower, I smell like the forest. I hate smelling like that.”

Clint reached out and eased Tony into a seated position. Tony wrinkled his nose at needing help but didn’t say anything. Phil sat at the edge of the bed and balanced the tray of food on his lap. It was a bowl of mashed potatoes and cup of juice. Tony loved mashed potatoes but rarely made them for himself.

“What if you eat,” said Clint, stepping in with a compromise. “And after that we all take a bath and then we all sleep?”

“Deal,” said Tony reluctantly. “Now gimme!”

Tony reached out for the bowl of food eagerly, his hunger awakening with his mind. Phil drily looked at Tony’s heavily bandaged hands before picking up the spoon and holding out a bite for Tony.

“Hell no,” said Tony, eyes narrowing. “I’m a grown ass man. I don’t need you to feed me.”

“Fine,” said Phil, setting the spoon back in the bowl, sticking up, and placing the bowl in Tony’s lap. “Help yourself.”

Phil sat back smugly while Tony examined the bowl like it was a particularly difficult engineering problem. Eventually, Tony decided to attack the problem head on like he did everything else. He used his bound hands to try and grab the spoon, but the bandages were so thick that he couldn’t get a grip. The spoon slid out of his grasp. Several more tried wielded the same results and when he finally did manage to get the spoon, he winced and dropped it instantly when he tried to lift it, the slight weight causing pain to shoot up his already throbbing hands.

Without a word, Phil leaned over, took up the bowl again, and offered Tony a spoonful. Tony closed his eyes in frustration. Phil set aside the bowl and spoon and gathered Tony in his arms.

“Hey,” said Phil gently, rocking back and forth in an attempt to calm Tony down. “I know, I know you’re frustrated, but you’re okay. It’s only for a little while. And in a few days Bruce said we can change them to smaller bandages. It’ll be fine.”

“I’m useless,” said Tony in a small voice.

“No, you’re not,” said Clint. “Now, you take a bath and I’ll make you a smoothie.”

Tony nodded. Clint picked Tony up and carried him to the bathroom, Phil right behind. Tony wanted to protest being treated like a baby but he was just too tired to argue anymore. He hated being weak but it was Phil and Clint weren’t being mean about it, they were actually being fantastic. And they had all survived the mission, which was a win. 

“Once we’re clean and fed, can we sleep for ever?” asked Tony, slipping into the water with Phil.

“Why don’t we just sleep until you’re done sleeping and watch a movie after that?” suggested Phil.

“That could work too,” yawned Tony.

By the time both of them were clean, Tony was mostly asleep again and Clint simply slipped a pair of sweats on Tony before carrying him back to bed. Phil rewrapped all of his wounds.

“Wake up, baby,” said Clint, shaking Tony gently. “You need to drink your smoothie. Remember, that was one of the conditions.”

“No,” whined Tony pathetically. “Sleep now.”

“Sleep after.”

Tony grumbled but sipped at the straw Clint placed at his lips. When half of the smoothie was gone, Tony yawned again and turned away from the drink, curling more into Clint. Clint chuckled but set the drink aside. Phil joined them in bed. Together they adjusted Tony so he was sandwiched between them, protected from both the back and the front. Tony always slept better when he was between them and they both slept better when they were on the outside so they could react to any threat and protect their partners from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the plan is to update several stories tomorrow. So look for that.
> 
> Also, I'm heading to Ireland eventually - so do any of you lovely people (who live there or have visited) have a list of places to go or things to do? 
> 
> Always,  
> Ari

**Author's Note:**

> I've been craving Tony/Phil and Tony/Clint, so I decided to write my own with all three together.
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
